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Earlier this week USDA released the requirements for exporting U.S. beef to China — some that are rather stringent in regards to production including testing for residues from synthetic hormones and beta agonists.

U.S. Meat Export Federation Senior Vice President for Trade Access Thad Lively says that in beginning trade volume will likely be slow but will grow over time.

Lively: “A number of areas of the agreement frankly turned out a lot better than any of us thought they would even just several months ago. And that is something that we all owe the folks at USDA and the U.S. government more broadly a big thank you for. We have access to the Chinese market under better terms than any other beef exporting country. We will have access for far more of the carcass than our competitors. That is a big win for all of us. We will have access for chilled beef and this will be critically important because the customers that we are looking at —- especially early on — will be high end, food service and retail customers in China and they are going to be looking for chilled beef. Of course U.S. beef is going to be positioned in that market at the very top of the market — the highest quality product available. To the extend that we are able to ship chilled, that always help in terms of establishing our reputation for quality and for having the freshest beef in the market.”